


5 Times the Avengers Meet Spider-Man & the 1 Time They Meet Peter Parker

by Buskuta



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5 Things, 5 Times, Gen, Identity Reveal, Secret Identity, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 11:03:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20007256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buskuta/pseuds/Buskuta
Summary: “What are you doing back here, then?” Tony asks her, dropping all niceties. “Did you get sick of the crappy motels you’ve been hiding in?”Natasha ignores the flare of irritation welling up inside of her. “Actually, I came here because I was worried about you,” she says coolly, and it isn’t a lie. Even though she’s been having a hard time keeping tabs on him, Natasha knows that Tony has been alone in the tower most of the time.“But I see now that I’ve had nothing to worry about,” she says, referring to Spider-Man. “Is he supposed to be the new us?”“What?” Tony looks affronted, then annoyed. “No. He’s just – that’s Spider-Man, you know. Remember, from Germany? He mostly patrols Queens, getting cats out of trees and helping old ladies cross the road. I’ve just been bringing him here to train. He’s a little new to this whole superhero gig.”OR: Tony Stark just wants to keep Spider-Man and Peter Parker on the down low, but that's a little difficult when the Avengers come back.





	5 Times the Avengers Meet Spider-Man & the 1 Time They Meet Peter Parker

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

**1\. Natasha**  
  


When Natasha first meets Spider-Man, it’s completely by accident.  
  


Which she isn’t very glad about. She likes to know what is going on at all times; it makes her feel more in control. Granted, it has been difficult to keep track of Stark’s antics while hiding from the government, but Tony is usually very public about his activities. For example, she knows that Stark decided not to sell the tower, for whatever reason.  
  


That’s why, when she breaks into the tower on the training room floor, she’s taken by surprise when she finds it… occupied.  
  


A man is dressed in what appears to be red and blue latex, swinging around on… something, dodging tennis balls shooting out of a machine. Natasha remembers him - Spider-Man, from the airport incident - but she never actually met the guy. She was a little preoccupied with the Accords.  
  


Now she studies him, something she couldn’t do in Germany. His movements are sloppy; Natasha instinctively goes through all of the countermoves she knows that would have him flat on his back in an instant. Although he’s predictable, he is fast, which means good reflexes. She watches him swing from his webs, which she already knew he does, but it’s hard to tell if they come out of him or not.  
  


She needs more information.  
  


In the ten seconds that Natasha has been in the tower, she’s been completely unnoticed. Obviously, Stark hasn’t been expecting any unwelcomed guests. Natasha clears her throat loudly to get the attention of Tony and the other guy.  
  


Tony is battle ready immediately. He’s dropped the phone he was scrolling through and already has a gauntlet armed and pointed at her. Hm. Impressive. Spider-Man breaks mid-swing, turning around in her direction and hangs from his web, staring at her. Tennis balls hit him repeatedly, but he doesn’t seem to notice.  
  


Natasha keeps her eyes on Tony and smirks at him. When he realizes it’s only her, he lowers and retracts his gauntlet, rolling his eyes.  


The tennis ball machine has stopped. The room is filled with a tense silence.  
  


Natasha refuses to break eye contact with Tony. It’s something that’s been ingrained in her for a long time. Never break eye contact, assert your dominance. Even when the Avengers were still a team, still friends, and she knew she could let her guard down, it was something she couldn’t let go of.  
  


Old habits die hard, she supposes.  


“Holy shit, are you the Black Widow?” Spider-Man asks, shock evident in his voice.  
  


Natasha doesn’t answer, still keeping eye contact with Tony. It’s him that breaks it first, as it always is.  


“Yeah,” Tony says distractedly, taking his shades out of his jacket pocket and slipping them on. “Let’s take a break, Spidey. Go cool off for a while. Eat a snack.”  


There’s a short pause, before, hesitantly, “sure thing, Mr. Stark.”  


Natasha spares Spider-Man a glance as he leaves. The door swings shut behind him, and Tony approaches Natasha.  
  


“Natasha Romanov, what brings you to my humble abode?” Tony asks her casually, but Natasha can see the stiffness in his shoulders, how straight his back is, how tense he is. He’s nervous.  
  


“I don’t know who that is,” Natasha tells him. “Say hello to Violet Summersville.” Upon Tony’s incredulous look, she elaborates. “Ross is still on my back.”  


“What are you doing back here, then?” Tony asks her, dropping all niceties. “Did you get sick of the crappy motels you’ve been hiding in?”  


Natasha ignores the flare of irritation welling up inside of her. “Actually, I came here because I was worried about you,” she says coolly, and it isn’t a lie. Even though she’s been having a hard time keeping tabs on him, Natasha knows that Tony has been alone in the tower most of the time.  
  


“But I see now that I’ve had nothing to worry about,” she says, referring to Spidey. “Is he supposed to be the new us?”  
  


“What?” Tony looks affronted, then annoyed. “No. He’s just – that’s Spider-Man, you know. Remember, from Germany? He mostly patrols Queens, getting cats out of trees and helping old ladies cross the road. I’ve just been bringing him here to train. He’s a little new to this whole superhero gig.”  
  


Tony didn’t need to tell Natasha that. It was obvious in the first few seconds that Spider-Man has had little to no training. She hums in response. She’s having a difficult time gauging Tony’s relationship with Spider-Man, so she doesn’t want to offend him.  


She’s actually been having a hard time gauging everything since she came here, which she is not used to. And she does not like it.  


“Look,” Tony sighs, scrubbing a hand across his face, “if you need a place to crash, lay low, then you can do that here, okay? Vision is floating around here somewhere and Rhodey will be back next week, so you won’t be all by your lonesome. Just – stay out of Spider-Man’s way, okay?”  
  


Natasha regards him carefully. He’s looking at her in a mixture of exasperation and poorly concealed desperation, which means he must care about Spider-Man and his wellbeing. Although, it does hurt a little that Tony doesn’t trust her with this, after all the time they’ve known each other.  


She doesn’t bother to ask about Spider-Man’s identity. She knows how it goes – the importance for someone to keep their identity a secret. She knows that firsthand.  


So, she stays out of Spider-Man’s way.  


For the most part.

* * *

Natasha takes Tony up on his offer to stay at the tower. She tries to keep to herself, but she doesn’t really have to; Vision has been pretty adamant about avoiding her since she got here. She essentially has the whole place to herself: she practices in the training room, reads on the common floor, takes up cooking. Tony keeps his distance, but sometimes she’ll cook supper and they’ll eat together, talking about trivial things. As time goes on, Vision occasionally joins them, but he doesn’t eat anything. When Rhodey returns, he welcomes Natasha with open arms, and suppertime is an awkward but pleasant family meal. It’s quiet. It’s a peaceful lifestyle.  
  


Natasha doesn’t like it.  


Curiosity revolving around Spider-Man nags at her, but she never asks Tony about it. She knows he’s a steel door anyway. He’ll never talk to her about him. So, Natasha just watches Spider-Man very carefully.  


As weeks go by, it’s not hard to figure out his schedule. He comes over every Wednesday evening to train, and then comes every other Friday and stays the weekend. Natasha respects Tony’s request and keeps her distance from Spider-Man whenever he’s in the tower, but she doesn’t really have to. He steers clear of most of the Avengers anyway, except for Tony, and when Natasha does see him, he’s always wearing his mask.  


Natasha’s curiosity peaks. At first, she understood enough to not question Spider-Man’s identity. But now, she’s confused, if not suspicious. Surely Spider-Man has to know that the Avengers – or what’s left of the Avengers – won’t spill his secret. Why is he so insistent on keeping his mask on?  
  


Next Wednesday night, Natasha follows Happy’s car that she watched Spider-Man slip inside of. The windows are tinted, so she can’t tell if Spider-Man took off his mask, if Tony trusts Happy enough to drive the guy home, then it’s more likely than not that Happy knows his identity.  
  


She follows them until they’re in rural Queens, pulled up at an old, crappy looking apartment complex. Alright, then, a little shady. But Natasha has been living in sketchy motel rooms for the last three months, so she can’t exactly judge.  
  


Natasha slinks easily through the shadows until she’s hiding in the dark corner of the apartment building. She watches Happy’s car closely, and it’s a full two minutes before someone comes out of the back seat. She can’t see their face that’s hidden in the long shadows, but she can make out the tousled hair at the top of the figure. Spider-Man isn’t wearing his mask.  


The car peels off and Spider-Man goes inside the building. Natasha doesn’t go inside the building – that would blow her cover, not to mention be insanely creepy. Besides, she already suspects what will happen. She waits patiently.  


Thirty minutes later, Natasha hears a _thwip_ from somewhere overhead. She looks up, and, sure enough, Spider-Man is swinging out of an apartment window and towards the rooftops of Queens. Natasha lets herself smirk before following the figure.  


Natasha observes him from afar. He’s talkative, quipping witty comments at the muggers he fights. He may be sloppy, but at least he seems to have a better grasp on fighting than he did when Natasha first saw him in the training room.  
  


She wouldn’t call her observing stalking, and she won’t admit that she’s making sure he’s got a grip on this. She just… watches. Natasha almost considers leaving after an hour or so, when she realizes that he can handle himself.  
  


Almost.  
  


Spider-Man bites off more than he can chew when he takes six robbers at once that were trying to break into a bodega. She watches the fight carefully. Spider-Man is better than she had initially thought, she’ll give him that. He's already taken down two of the six men. However, after a couple of minutes it becomes obvious that he’s outmatched. He’s slowing down, more on the defense than otherwise. She continues to watch, curious to see if he can handle it.  


Natasha only decides to step in when one of the robbers pulls out a knife.  
  


She emerges silently from the shadows of the alleyway, going for the armed man first. She approaches from behind, her footsteps quiet, and knees him in his crotch. He drops, and Natasha twists his arm that’s holding the knife behind his back before yanking it out of his grip.  
  


“What the –“ Spider-Man says, but Natasha doesn’t pay attention.  
  


She grasps the second man’s shoulder, turning him around, before delivering a swift punch to the jaw that knocks him out cold. She hears a repeated _thwip thwip thwip_ coming from behind her, where she left the first man, so Natasha assumes that Spider-Man is taking care of him.  


Natasha picks up into a jog towards the third and fourth guys. She grabs the third man by his shoulders and uses him as leverage to twist herself sideways and kick the fourth man hard in the stomach. He falls. Natasha whips around to face the fourth man, but Spider-Man is already wrapping him up in webs. She looks around, and finds all four men either unconscious or tied up in webs.  
  


Natasha doesn’t wait for Spider-Man to catch his breath. “You need to be more careful,” she says sharply.  


“I couldn’t just let them break into the store –“ Spider-Man protests. Natasha ignores him.  
  


“What would have happened if you couldn’t take them?” she asks dangerously. “Or if they were all armed? What if I wasn’t here to help you?” Because, seriously, he _has_ to be more careful. If he continues being reckless like this, he’s going to wind up dead, and Tony’s “training” doesn’t seem to be helping him much.  


The whites in Spider-Man’s eyes widen significantly. Natasha would have found it comical if it wasn’t for the fact that she was reprimanding the guy.  


“Are you following me?” he asks incredulously.  


“If you tell Stark about tonight,” Natasha threatens, “I will cut your tongue out so you will never be able to speak again.”  


Spider-Man nods vigorously. Natasha glances around, double checking that the criminals are secure.  


“Good,” she says, and walks away from the entire scene without another word.

* * *

“Tony,” Natasha says casually from the couch the next day, not looking up from her book.  
  


“Hmm?” Tony hums from the kitchen counter where he’s making coffee.  


“I’d like to help train Spider-Man,” she deadpans. She hears coughing from the kitchen.  


“What’s with the sudden kind heart?” Tony asks suspiciously.  
  


Natasha has to stop herself from rolling her eyes. “I was just thinking, if he’s out there fighting criminals, he should probably learn _how_ to fight.”  


Tony comes and stands in front of the couch. Natasha stares up at him. “You want to teach Spider-Man how to fight?” Tony asks her.  
  


“Yes,” Natasha answers.  


Tony crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at her. Natasha doesn’t break eye contact. They stay like that for a whole thirty seconds before Tony blinks.  
  


“Alright,” he says finally. “But any funny business, Romanov, any at all, and I swear I will hand your ass over to Ross.”  
  


“No funny business,” Natasha promises, and she means it.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you've enjoyed! A new chapter will be coming soon.


End file.
